Venetian Masks pt2

It's another cat mask,but this time the style of the nose is more human like.
When I first saw this one I thought it was Indonesian batik,but if look closer,I think it might actually be tarot cards.
Got to love those feathers.Makes me think 'wise woman tribe leader' somehow.lol...
Think i should find out how to create those crackles.It was shown how to create crackles on wood in TV before but i forgot.1 layer paint 1 layer chemical,that's all I remember.
These ones look very oriental.
Casanova mask.I like the shape.

This one is prolly one of my favourites.The colour is very understated and it looks elegant.

At last I found out how Venetian masks are made.Sounds easy,and quite interesing.Here's the link

Introducing the new Scriptorium

I've created another blog to post my stories whenever I feel like it.Prolly won't be updated as often as this blog.But I guess it's something to encourage me to write more and make sure my creativity*cough* doesn't dry up.Looking back on when I was young,that creativity has dried up a lot though.

Here's the link: Criccy's Scriptorium

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Argh!! Tomorrow have 2D animation class again.It's the 3rd time this week I'll be going for that class.And I still dunno what we are supposed to show Tan tomorrow.Currently I've finished my flying bird,although it's depressingly jerky.Working on my double take now.Feel sleepy though...but class is at 10am tomorow!! argh!!! So far only done the keyframes!!!

I've reached a conclusion.

I cannot animate and listen to music at the same time.

My left brain needs a quiet environment so it can tell my right brain what to do next.

D8

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Whee...downloaded Maya already,so don't need to stay back in college to do work.Yesterday I just went into the 3D lab for awhile and it was so cold.

Also,I finally understand how to use Flash

I bought 'The Tragical Comedy or Tragical Comedy of Mr Punch' yesterday from Kinokuniya.I was in KL to take some shots for photography and so ngam the day before there was a 25% discount voucher printed in the Star.Somemore I didn't notice that voucher until i re read the newspaper the next morning.If you want the voucher,it's in the Worlds of Wonder section.Valid for a maximum of 2 comics,either American or Japanese comics.So after the discount,the book was RM46.10; quite worth it ,since it's full colour.And compare that to Tse Yein's Sandman comic which she bought for RM70 something.

There was a book fare at KLCC as well but I decided not to go because

1)I was very tired,woke up at 5 am to get morning sunlight photos

2)have to pay for entry.Yes,you have to pay to go in to buy their books.Selfish buggers...

Still feeling very stressed about college.I think it started from Flash animation class the other day.Perhaps I was too tired but I did not understand much about the class.Don't even know how to start.And then I saw the seniors work looks very nice,and some of our classmates also going to finish the assignment,but I still haven't started.I have to go for class again on Monday together with group 1 for sure.Another thing is that I don't feel as comfortable animating with a tablet as with pencil and paper.

Maybe it is compounded because I haven't started marker rendering either because I haven't bought thinner yet.I tried turpentine this morning but it didn't work.

And then Seamus makes me feel stupid when it comes to perspective.I plan to study perspective notes again either tomorrow or later after editing my photography shots.

For Maya,so far i think I'm still ok,except I haven't gotten a copy for myself yet.I'm going to try to do the assignment on Monday in the college lab.Hopefully I won't have any problems.Jason made it look easy anyway.

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But on the other hand I keep on thinking whether or not i really really am interested in animation.If not,then maybe later when the software gets more and more complicated I might have a problem and wonder what am I doing in DG major.Last time Syed always asked us if we enjoyed doing 2d animation.For me it was only okok.The technical problems became less and less throughout the term,but it wasn't as if I was getting a big kick out of it.

Maybe it's still too early to tell.Meanwhile my parents just asked me to try my best since I already think that illustration will not provide good job opportunity or pay,so I just have to think about my future.

Maybe I'm still hoping to come to a happy compromise later in my working life,as a designer of some sort.But either way we all have to work our way up to that post,since people generally start out as lowly inbetweening animators.

But I realised that I generally can't handle stress well.Eventhough it's sort of only a small problem,I still manage to stress myself out so much that I cannot sleep.That's why these past few days I purposely tire myself out by doing reading or studying or personal art projects,before I go to sleep.Kind of like last time when I was a kid,I was so afraid of my class teacher that I was scared to go to school and cannot sleep,just kept sighing a lot and rolling about.It seems that academic performance anxiety is still something that I cannot get over with since young.

I know other people probably have bigger college problems than me.No hardware,software,technical advice,moral support from parents,monetary problem,language problems etc.That's why I think if I was an outstation student I will just die.I think I am not mature enough to study overseas or anything yet.

Venetian masks!!

This morning I was surfing the net and decided to check some out.I remember I saw one very nice one when I was in Australia.It was quite a huge mask,with a curly jester hat made out of opera paper and bells.

They don't come cheap though.Very elaborate ones made of quality materials can cost up to USD400.the simple ones that cover only the eyes are around USD30~40.The materials that they use are very beautiful though,and usually the ones with more material look nicer.Anything from feathers to lace,swarovski crystals,laser cut metal,cloth,leather,opera paper,textured paper,gold or silver leaf,bells,beads,tassles....you name it they have it.

Anyways,enjoy the eye candy.

This one is from the Cirque du Soliel,actually,I was having a look at their website and from there decided to look for Venetian masks.I remember Cirque du Soliel was in Singapore once.They performed Quidam.I remember the headless man with the umbrella.
The one I saw in Aussieland was something like this but more elaborate.Don't you just love the opera paper and jester hat?
A cat face version
One with laser cut metal decoration.Looks so romantic.
prolly one of my favourites.
Lush feathery piece.I have  2 blank Venetian masks at home,i was thinking of putting feathers on them too.
Another jester piece.
2 mask combination.It is meant to be worn.Dunno how though.
These last few are designed by Claudia Hapeman.This piece is called Shangri-la
Very light femenine looking piece.BTW,they sell masks for weddings too.
A very powerful looking piece
I like the tassels on this one.

I suddenly feel very stressed now.This term we have to use Macromedia Flash and Autodesk Maya.And I remember that I am not that good at computers.Even last time Photoshop and Illustrator were difficult for me.Then I wonder why I went into animation in the first place,especially since got the word '3D' in front.

3D animation

requires a lot of computers.

but anyway,i think i was too tired in flash animation class the other day and didn't understand much about how to control it.So i think I have to join group 1 again on Monday and study one more time.

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But even since last time I was not sure about which to take,animation or illustration.I think truthfully I'm more interested in illustration.Even now I think of freelancing as an illustrator after I graduate.I think since I was young also I've always wanted to be an illustrator.But how come in the end I went into animation anyway? Because of money only.Because i heard that there is a shortage of animators and an oversupply of illustrators,therefore animators get jobs easier.For the same reason,animators get better salaries as well.

sigh...but I still feel like something is missing in my animation.You know how you can feel if something is going well or not?Eventhough my grades are ok,but I don't feel like a natural animator.Natural illustrator,then probably.

Sure,I like to tell stories, I like to draw.

But separately.

Since I was young I liked to write stories,draw illustrations,draw comics,and then I usually get praises for them.That's why I probably will prefer illustrating stories,rather than animating.I just feel out of my element.Maybe the feeling will change later,i dunno.But that's how I feel now anyway.The other day I read an interview of one of the animators at Pixar,who said the same thing.She studied graphic design in college,but later went into animation.At first she didn't like it,she always felt more of an illustration person,like to do those small drawing details and all.But in the end also she turned out ok in animation.Hopefully it'll be something like that for me later also.

At least I feel a bit better after hearing what Yip Sun said,he said that the lecturers told him,if he's confident of his drawing abilities,then go for something more challenging and do animation.I think I just have to keep on remembering that after all this,at least I'm preparing myself better for working life and not going to paint myself into a corner and become a starving artist.